The highest rank falls since the start of the ground operation.. The Israeli occupation announces the killing of a brigade commander in Jabalia

The Israeli occupation army said that the commander of the 401st Brigade was killed in a battle in Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip, and another officer was seriously wounded. According to the army statement, the dead man is Druze Colonel Ihsan Deksa.

The Israeli media reported a serious security incident in the Gaza Strip, before later confirming the death of Colonel Dexa, noting that his tank and another tank were exposed to an explosive device in Jabalia, which led to his death.

In turn, the Israeli Army Radio reported that Colonel Daqsa was accompanied by 3 other officers in two tanks inside Jabalia in the battle zone, noting that he and the officers left the tanks for a distance of 20 meters, and while they were moving, an explosive device was detonated.

The Israeli Army Radio also reported that the incident killed Colonel Daqsa and injured 3 officers, including the deputy commander of the 162nd Division and the commander of the 52nd Battalion.

Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Colonel Dexa was killed and another officer was seriously injured in a battle inside the Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip, after a tank they were in hit an explosive device.

Israeli media reported that the commander of the 162nd Division in the Israeli army decided to appoint Lieutenant Colonel Meir Biederman instead of Colonel Dexa as commander of the 401st Brigade. Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Ella was also called up to replace the commander of the 52nd Brigade, who was mortally wounded in a battle in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip a few months ago, to temporarily replace him.

According to military and security expert Osama Khaled, in statements to Al Jazeera Net, Colonel Dexa is considered the most important Israeli military figure to be killed since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada for several reasons, the most prominent of which is that he holds the highest military rank, with the rank of colonel, as he commands the 401st Armored Brigade, which is affiliated with the 162nd Division of the Southern Command, and is the most important elite armored brigade in the occupation army and is known as the “Steel Heels.”

The "Steel Heels" is one of the three brigades that make up the Israeli Armored Corps, and is affiliated with the 162nd Armored Division, and represents its strongest priority, and falls under the management of the Southern Command. It is one of the most prominent military divisions that the occupation army relies on in field battles, due to its possession of armor and its advantage in strength and ability to move.

The expert added that the slain colonel led all the offensive operations in the Gaza Strip in Al-Shifa, Al-Zeitoun, Beit Hanoun, Jabalia and Rafah and participated in the "annihilation of people and stones and can be described as a Hulagu."

Colonel Ihsan Daqsa, who was killed today in the battles of Jabalia in the north, is the highest-ranking military officer to be killed in this war, and he is one of four officers with the rank of colonel who have been killed since the beginning of the war.

The people of the land in #Gaza, more than a year after the genocide, and after the #Jabalia holocaust and the abuse of innocents there, are still steadfast, fighting and killing✌🏻 pic.twitter.com/40LdeM6oT4

— Hassan Al-Durr (@HasanDorr) October 20, 2024

According to the military expert, Colonel Dexa was directly targeted in the midst of the fighting, which represents an operational achievement for the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades in the Qassam Northern Brigade.

He considered the killing of the Israeli colonel as evidence of the Qassam Brigades' ability to control the forces in the field and select sensitive targets and hostile leadership figures who have influence on the occupation army.

According to the expert, this "serious security" event is not over yet, as there are other dead in other ranks, as it appears that the targeting was of a leadership meeting known as the "commander's reconnaissance."

He also said that the Druze were betting on the presence of Colonel Ihsan Deksa in the Israeli army as he was their highest military rank.

Source: Al Jazeera